Shekarau, who was governor from 2003 to 2011 in a letter to Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso entitled “ Re: Implementation of Governor and Deputy Governor law No.3 of 2007”, requested for the payment of his monthly pensions as a former governor, provision of two vehicles and payment of allowances of his four personal staff.
The letter which was personally signed by Shekarau was addressed to Governor Kwankwaso.
Shekarau recalled that when the law was passed in 2007 he urged the state House of Assembly to backdate its implementation so Kwankwaso, who was governor of the state from 1999-2003 could benefit, lamented the injustice meted out against him by the current administration.
Shekarau’s spokesman, Malam Sule Yau Sule, said “When Kwankwaso wrote that his entitlements should be paid, his entitlements from 2003 were calculated and he was paid. We were paying him his allowances till the last month of our administration. We gave him all other privileges contained in the act but we couldn’t buy him a house because we had financial challenges which affected the whole country at the twilight of our administration. He brought a house of N900 million.
“His deputy, Ganduje, brought the issue of the very house he was occupying then that we should pay him. Malam paid him and he too received his allowances as a deputy till the last month of our administration. Malam implemented the law to the fullest,” he said.
Sule described the non-payment of his principal’s entitlement as the highest level of injustice.
“Shekarau is entitled to a monthly allowance equivalent to what Kwankwaso is receiving as a serving governor in Kano State. All other persons entitled to the entitlement are benefiting as they are being paid by Kwankwaso. The two persons that served as deputy governors during Shekarau’s tenure are benefiting too. This is the highest level of injustice,” he said.
In his reaction, Kwankwaso, who spoke through his media aide, Alhaji Jafar Jafar, faulted the claims of Shekarau’s media man, saying the former governor violated the law while he was in office.
“Based on pressures from the Shekarau people, Kwankwaso applied for his entitlements but he was only paid his allowances but Sheka-rau did not buy a house for Kwankwaso in line with the law. When Kwankwaso applied for the house, Shekarau kept it in view.
“Mallam Shekarau went ahead and violated the law by building a 20-bed room house for himself while he was serving. He violated it because the law clearly states that only former governors and deputies should enjoy the privileges and not that a serving governor should pay or build a house for himself”, he said.
Jafar, however, implored Shekarau to write a reminder and that Kwankwaso as a law abiding governor would look into it.
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